A Freak of Nature
by xenija
Summary: Au:non HPB:All he could do was to watch the opening of her closet, filled with more than one skeleton to come for the light…Rebelling will get her nowhere,it was time to fulfill the prophecy .HGBZ
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to J.K.Rowling,James Cameron and Charles H. Eegle...

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Prologue

There was a time before Hogwarts was founded, before witchcraft, before 'muggles', before everything….

An ancient cult, known only as the ' Conclave' has infiltrated various levels of society and over millions of years bred super humans: Perfect in body, perfect in soul….

The Legend said the first two children must be terminated before being born and that the third one would be special. During thousands and thousands of years, however, only boys had been born inside the clan.

Until the young wizard named Merlin told the prophecy that changed everything.

_A Girl will be born as a third of the mages… _

_And her blood will grow strong in the child she will creates_

_Not just one, but the heirs to the throne of the world._

_This Queen will take over the warriors, no matter what will be told._

_Or the clan shall vanish from the face of Earth._

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The day had started as usual, nothing more and nothing less. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat casually, leaning back in his leather chair and looking out the window on to the Hogwarts Grounds.

The school year had just barely begun and only one thing crept into his mind and disturbed him. It was not Voldemort he thought of at the moment...no, he was far from him. However, after what could happen today, he was sure that Harry would not be Tom's number one target for a while.

He sighed deeply as he looked over the open letter lying on the top of his desk, the letter he received two days ago.

_It is time to pay up your debt, wizard…_

_You have three days to prepare for our visit. We are concerned about situation regarding the girl. Has she found a suitable breeding partner? If she will not find him, we shall find our own candidates._

_She is not telling much in her letters; rebelling will get her nowhere._

_It is time for the prophecy to be fulfill. Do not try to stop us. Three is nothing you can do against us._

It was going to happen today; he tried every possible way to get her out of this mess. Nobody listened to him as well as to Miss Granger.

He himself found out only two years after the fight in the Department of Mysteries. That particular curse Dolohov hit her with...it was a miracle she survived. He lied when he said he knew nothing about it...Only few knew that Antonin's father was a Vampire. His Avada Kedavra never meant to appear as the stream of the bright green light, it was supposed to be purple.

He was not afraid for her; she was one of the strongest people he ever knew. He was afraid of the reaction she could receive from her friends. All he could do was to watch the opening of her closet, filled with more than one skeleton to come out in to the light…


	2. Fake

**Disclaimer: Do Not own a thing...everything belongs to J.K.Rowling, James Cameron and Charles H. Eegle..**

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' Merlin, this is not good..so not good...' – Hermione Granger continued to repeat to herself this words over and over,ever since Professor McGonagall said that Headmaster wanted to see her in his office. Thank to Merlin Harry and Ron were not with her at this moment or she would had the hard time explaining the situation...She needed more time...

Today was September the fifth. Two more weeks to go before her eighteenth birthday, the date she tryed to push forward and forget for awhile.

How will Harry react? How will Ron react? Would they consider her as a traitor?Technically she was not one. She was not a secret follower or Voldemort or something...Can't the girl keep her own secrets? Everyone had one, and Hermione Jane Granger wasn't an exeption

She thought how nobody could see her 'fake' life she was so eager to push in front of their eyes.

Nor Harry,nor even Ron knew the names of her parens,for Merlin's sake!. And they were her friends since she was eleven years old!

Everytime someone asked about her family or her parents the answer was always one: Muggle dentists ( aka teeth healers).And nothing more...

When Lucious Malfoy met both of her '_parents_' in the 'Flourish and Boots' in the beginning of her second year...he knew , it was in his eye.She could bet everything she ever owned. He was not so stupid not see '_things_' about them.

Think yourself: two neatly dresed muggles,looking like they just got out of cover of some magazine. Happy faces,cheerfull smiles. The picture of ideal 'Pleasantwill's' muggle's.

Everything abut them screamed one only one word: '**FAKE**'.

Sometimes she wondered if Draco Malfoy knew the truth. He stopped calling her 'Mudblood' somewhere in the end of their fifth year. If Malfoy senior knew the truth, maybe he finally told the Ferret...she could only guess. All Slytherins seemed to avoid her more. It was like a silent agreement between them: _Do not touch me, and I will not touch you in return_.

_Perfect in body, perfect in soul_...-hell no! She had perfect brains: she could agree on this fact not on those two.

She was average, she always knew that much. She was somethere in the middle, not petite and not 'model-like' tall. Average legs, average breasts, average ...everything. Plain Jane, even her middle name screamed about it.

She forgot when was the last time she saw her reflection in the mirror? Second year?befor being petrified by basilisk?Maybe, she thought that much. Even in her fourth year, at the Yule ball she fixed her hair not looking in one, make up was made with a flick of her wand.

They were worried why she hadn't found suitable '_breeding partner'_ so far? This was getting redikkulouse. Who in the sane mind and good memory could want someone like her. Nobody in Hogwarts for sure...Home, during her vacations her brothers and cousins did not helped either. Ginny Weasley, Ron's little sister alway ranted about growing up with six brothers...Honestly , she had no idea what was like to grew up being constant watched by your two brothers and about fifteen cousens...She had no idea.

Being first girl to be born in more than thousand hundreds of years in the family...brought some responsibilities with as an attachment.

Slowly walking to the Headmaster's office ,she stopped for a moment and leaned with her back to the nearest wall heavily breathin in .Maybe he could hide her somewhere safe? Nan, she doubted this could happen. She tryed, every damn year she tryed and still—nothing. They manage to find her everytime. There was no way from this hell.

Breeding partner,indeed...One formulation only made her shiver... She didn't wanted to be paired with one of her cousens, she was not into incest,thank you very much.

'Lemon Drop'.- she said firmly to gargoyle and walked into the open door ready to meet her destiny.

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A/N: you give me reviews, I give you cookies :-)


	3. Head Boy

**Disclaimer: Do Not own a thing...everything belongs to J.K.Rowling, James Cameron and Charles H. Eegle..**

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_One impossible thing for human to do, is to lick his own elbow._

Ninety percent of those who read this statement immediately tried to prove this fact wrong attempting to recreate this particular process.

Unfortunately, humans are made in a very unique way: they do not believe what they read in books, never listen to elders and never learn from their past mistakes.

Blaise Zabini, however, was an exception of the rules.

'Silent Italian','Slytherin Shadow'...he had many names in at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a mystery man, even to his friends.

The young man stood proudly with his 6'1 frame. His unruly dark hair, olive skin and magnetic, indigo eyes were just a small addition to the lean and muscular body he possessed.

Not liking attention for his figure, he always tried to stay in the dark and preferred to be an observer. He was not very talkative, even with the few real friends he had. Theodore Nott and Millicent Bullstrode both could swear that during all six years at Hogwarts, he didn't said more than a dozen sentences in public.

But now, some things have changed , seeing as Blaise became Head Boy and started to share his quarters with the Head Girl, Hermione Granger of Gryffindor.

Their seventh year had only started and Blaise already said more words (...er..correction: swear words) towards his Head Colleague than he had said in his whole life.

He was torn in two. One part of him simply wanted to kill her, the other...well...he didn't formulated this part yet.

She was so practical, so damn logical and so much of a neat freak. In three words, he really suspected she had Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder….if he correctly remembered what muggles called it.

Really, she was always rearranging things in an obsessive way; every book and slip of parchment had its place. Even shampoo bottles in their joined bathroom stood on the shelf arranging in alphabetic order. Maybe it wasn't that bad, but she made him, of all people, do the same with his toiletries!

She was always cleaning things. If she had done it with a simply cleaning charm he wouldn't have minded, but washing the floor in the common room with a rag ….that was just …how to formulate this correctly…sick?

The other thing was….she somehow managed to fascinate him in a way no one had before. He was not as easy to control; even Voldemort himself could not get him to serve. Blaise Zabini was a proud and stubborn young man who preferred to stay on the neutral side. This was war, there were no 'bad' or 'good' people, there were only enemies and sides. He had chosen his and did not intend to change it.

But this girl had only to put her hands on her hips, take a pose with expression on her face: one-move-and-–I-will-kill-you–with-my–bare-hands expression….and _Bam!_ He was ready to perform all her stupid tasks.

She was as stubborn as he was, or maybe even more. She was unreachable. Not only for him, but to every male at Hogwarts. Wearing an illuminated sign on her face which screamed: Back off! –literally killed the mood on every bloke face who wanted to get near her. Potter and Weasley didn't helped the situation either. The looks they were sending to every daring boy around Granger were dreadful.

She was not striking beautifully. Not the bimbo type you could see mile away. Malfoy called her hair bushy. Have the boy ever seen an actual bush before in his pathetic life?

Her hair were soft and curly. Dark brown color which suit her perfectly. Small nose,full lips and those beautiful chocolate eyes she possessed. They had a few small flicks of gold in them and when she looked straight at you , you could get lost in them easily.

He thought she was rather filled out, a toned and strong girl. In his opinion, she had the 'sport' type of body. Where she got it, he had no idea. Probably from carrying those heavy books with her all the time. Not that he could see much of it, she was always wearing her school robes which hide a lot of her sight.

Earlier today he had quite possibly became the first bloke at this school to see the Brains of Gryffindor dressed like she had been on the day she was born.You see, their quarters had a joining bathroom and he had woken up a little bit earlier than he usually did. A trip in the bathroom to see the porcelain friend was in order and he decided to sneak in.

One misstep...

He forgot about_ the schedule_ and was thankful that she didn't see him,otherwise, he would dead now...that's for sure.

When he walked in, she was standing in the shower under the stream of warm water. He could clearly see the outlines of her body. Her hands washing lazy circles of soap on her skin. Starting with her full breasts and going down to her abdomen a moment later.She moaned slightly, probably from the pleasure of water drop hitting on her bare skin.

He closed the door as fast as he had opened it. Leaning with his back on it he groaned aloud in frustration. He could defiantly forget about the loo, he was in need of the shower now; a cold one, that's for sure.

They both were Heads, and one of the privileges of being them was the fact that they were eating at the Head Table now. At breakfast he noticed Dumbledore was absent and he heard that McGonagall had asked Granger to come up to his office after breakfast was over. The expression of her face changed immediately, she suddenly became very nervous and stormed out of the Great Hall shortly after that, not even stopping by her House Table to talk with her friends.

Something was defiantly wrong with her. And Blaise Zabini needed to know what exactly that was.

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A/N: I plan to post an uptade once or maybe even twise a week. Hopefully you liked this one... ..and please,please,please...**Review**:-)! 


	4. Small Talk

**Disclaimer: Not mine, nor ever will be...**

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**A/N:** big THANK YOU for everyone who reviewed so far,: **xobellaxo, Dagmara,Demoness-MarlstonWells69ner,Do you know Emily Davison.**

:-)

Well, next chapter is up and next will follow couple of days later. Every next chapter will be longer than previouse...and for now:Read and Enjoy!

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P.S. beta-ed by **Allie09 **( _Thank you darling, for your wonderful work!)_

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Hermione slowly walked into the Headmaster's office and let out a sigh of relief as she saw two figures sitting in the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. 

Professor Dumbledore smiled at her: "Ah, Miss Granger. Do come in, please. We have been waiting for you."His words attracted their attention and they turned around to look at her.

Her brothers._At least not Father_, she thought to herself.

They both stood up to welcome her. Although three of them had different mothers, they all had one similar trait from their father: the form and color of their eyes.

Rhett was the oldest, being twenty eight. He was quite tall, almost six foot three; his body was lean and slender, which was showing more as he was wearing a dark blue pinstriped suite made in old Gangster style. Part of his long, black hair was tied back in a pony tail, the other part was brushing his shoulders slightly. His nose was straight and not very long; he had moustache and a small beard around his mouth. His eyes flickered with happiness as he looked at his little sister and embraced her in a small hug, kissing the top of her head.

"Hey! That's not fair...Bloody discrimination,"she heard the moaning voice of Lionel. "I want a hug, too."

As soon as she left Rhett's arms she was pulled by her second brother into a bear-hug that would make Molly Weasley proud.

Lionel was younger then Rhett, only twenty three. He was not as tall; being only a few inches taller than Hermione, he stood at five foot nine. His body could be described as the 'bulky-type'. His muscles stretched his brown cardigan, which was zipped up to his neck and fit his figure perfectly. He was wearing jeans that were ripped at the knees and sat low on his waist, along with simple black, classic shoes. Lionel's curly honey-brown hair were cut shortly on the sides,making two inches punk iroquois in the middle. His brown eyes twinkling at her as he looked her up and down.

"My ,my, Sis," he grinned at her,"you seem to have grown up since the last time I saw you."

She playfully punched him in the arm and finally let him go."Which was a week ago, if you have forgotten."

Dumbledore made a wave with his wand and a third chair appeared in front of his desk. His action made Hermione remember exactly why she was there. She sat down in the chair, watching as Rhett and Lionel did the same, and adjusted her long robe a little.

"Do not forget, child.You have yet to tell young Harry and Mr .Weasley the truth..."

_Oh,Merlin...How do I tell Harry and Ron?_ She was a nervous wreck.

Lionel leaned back in his chair and nodded to Rhett who seemed to recognize hesitation in Hermione's eyes.

"We've been sent to start preparations," he started slowly, not wanting her to get even more nervous or angry. "Only for a few hours."

"Yeah,"-added Lionel from her right side, "just to look around and see if we-."

At this Hermione stopped him with the motion of her hand and continued for him."Can pick anyone for me?"

„Remember, you always have a choice, Miss Granger." Dumbledore decided to interfere as he picked up the bowl of Lemon Drops and pushed it to her side. "How about you take a lemon drop and we talk about your predicament more."

She narrowed her eyes dangerously at this. The Headmaster clearly wanted to distract her, she was not buying it. "What choice are you talking about? Hermione, you're turning eighteen darling. How about you pick someone and shag him rotten to create a bunch of perfect babies to crawl around for the loving Grandpa?"she said sarcastically. " I see no bloody choice here!"

"But you do!"

She quickly looked at her left side hearing as Rhett interrupted her. His tone was harsh and cold, hitting on her nerves. He sounded just like Father now.

"You do realize that father could just pick anyone he thought suitable for you at the moment you started to bleed for the first time." By the look on his face, she could tell he was talking seriously.

After last statement Lionel rolled his eyes. He hated these stupid birds-and-bees talks. Not in front of his little sister; he felt his cheeks go red..

Dumbledore seemed more interested in watching his phoenix This was family business, he had better wait to interfere.

Fawkes was sitting inside of his cage. The bird cocked his head to the side, looking at people around him.

Rhett continued "It's either your choice or his, Hermione. And trust me, I don't think you would like to hear his, it's better if you choose."

She tried to calm herself down but her hands showed her real state. Shaking , she adjusted her Gryffindor tie and dared to ask. "Who."

Lionel looked back at the window and whispered. "Ames White."

"Oh ,God..."She covered her face with her hands.

Rhett continued "It's either him, or your own choice. But by the end of the night on your birthday, you must consummate your new relationship."

"I know," she whispered softly.

Lionel stood up from his place and knelled beside her on the floor, holding her hands. He could understand her reaction.

Ames White was defiantly not a nice person. While he was no doubt good looking, he had a violent spark inside and deep hatred to all people who were not born inside of the clan. Wizards or muggles...he didn't cared. The bastard would enjoy having Hermione. She would bring him authority among others, power as well as respect and wealth.. First girl to be born made her very exquisite. Bring a magical gift...she would be priceless.

"Do you have someone in mind?" he asked cautiously.

She shook her head: "Um...no."

"Why?"

"How do I know?"

"You have two weeks to find the one you like. If he will be struggling, don't worry. We have our own methods of persuasion." Rhett smiled genuinely at her. "We like White no more than you do, Hermione."

"Well," Dumbledore finally started. "If this thing is settled, let us talk about the ball."

Hermione almost choked after his words. "What ball?"

"Your birthday ball of coarse. I will make the announcement this evening. Eighteen years come once in a lifetime. Ah, just to remember...When I was in your age...," he started chuckling.

Rhett coughed a little, bringing Dumbledore's attention back to the theme.

"Oh,well...And I just wanted to ask a few things. Design... Which color do you prefer most? I would think of gold, but Minerva is saying about sparkling mahogany."

She managed to produce a small smile. The old wizard was obviously trying to cheer her up; it did manage to work, however only for a short period of time...

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A/N:**Review** ... 


	5. Cry

**Disclaimer**:Not mine,noerever will be. Everything belongs to J.K.Rowling,James Cameron and Charles H. Eegle...

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A/N: to _Your French Fan_ : I am terribly sorry for any mistakes and I would really go to English classes if I would. I don't have much time between studiing and well I write stories between them just to relax a bit. I learn English, but only 'Law Terminology', and unfortunatly not grammar. The only time when I actually can practice in my English skills is in summer when I go to London to visit my relatives. And sentece structure...It's kind of hard to write in English , when you are thinking in Russian...so use of words is difficult.

And yes, this story has beta. Only first chapter have not been beta-edited , but now it is replaced for better version.

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"Where is Hermione?"

A small, balled piece of paper fell down on Blaise's parchment while he was writing a short summary on the uses of Aconite in the Potions classroom. His right hand stirred a little to the side, making a blotch with his ink and ruining his last sentence.

He looked up and saw Weasley, looking at him questionably, and Potter nodding at the note. Picking it up, he read their question and wrote a reply. Waiting for the right moment, he threw it back to them behind Snape's back, who which was walking between the rows of desks.

Blaise rolled his eyes in irritation: '_Gryffindors...'_

Picking up his wand and muttering silent 'Scougrify' the dirty spot was cleaned from his paper and he resumed his writing.

Ron Weasley leaned closer to Harry, wanting to read the Slytherin's answer. Hermione had already missed Transfiguration today, as well as Herbology and already extremely late to Potions. They both hadn't seen her since breakfast and even then they saw her from afar. She didn't even say 'Hello' to them. This was defiantly out of her character.

Under the scrawling – which would be Ron's poor attempt at decent handwriting, Harry read the answer.

'_Do I look like an information service?'_

Ron shot a dirty look towards Blaise and muttered, "Bloody Slytherin."

"I am worried about her, Ron. Something is wrong." whispered Harry. "She hasn't been herself these last few days."

"I'll say," chuckled the read head, flipping through the pages of his Potions book. "For the last few years."

Harry lifted his eyebrow in question, "What do you mean?"

Ron blushed a little, turning pink "You know, mate...maybe she's on her...um...period?"

"Nah," Harry frowned, attempting to start writing again. "You know our little bookworm, even cramps won't stop her from attending lessons."

His friend grinned at this statement and returned his attention to his parchment as well.

Still, Harry felt somewhat uneasy as he thought about Hermione. The feeling that something bad had happened, or would, ate at him from the inside. He was worried about his friend.

The long corridor at the farthest end of the fifth floor in West Tower was cold and dark. Dim light from a few candles attached to the walls were not enough to light the way.

Once stepping from behind the corner, Blaise suddenly tripped and the books he was holding fell down on stone floor.

"Fuck!" his voice echoed through the silence as he bent down to retrieve them.

One piece of parchment slipped between his books and once he put it up to the dim light he recognized this as the Trasfiguration Homework MacGonagall had given him for Granger. He studied it for a moment:

"What the?"

He looked puzzled. Why would McGonagall give Granger such homework? They began study Human Transfiguration and more about becoming an animagi this year and the class assignment was to write a two thousands words essay about three forms of animals they would like to choose. Granger's paper, however, contained a research about side effects of wrong transformation.

He couldn't understand it. Somehow he thought that Granger would be first to run at attempt to transfigure herself. It seemed like she would not now. This was not just an extra credit assignment.

Sure, he heard that not every wizard or witch could become an aminagi, not only because the process itself was dangerous, but because they simply couldn't .

Hermione Granger was a powerful witch, and he honestly doubted that the last thing was the cause of it.

He finally stood up and continued walking down the corridor. A few steps later he stopped by the dead end of it . Pushing his left hand in front of him he pressed the darkest brick in the wall and revealed the hidden passage.

Blaise stepped inside of the Head's Common Room as bright light from the windows hit him in the eyes. He shut the curtains for a second and opened them once again, not being used to bright light after coming from the dark hallway.

He found Granger sitting on the edge of the sofa, starring blankly into the opposite wall. She had an open book in her lap but was not paying any attention to it.

Blaise took his robes of and threw them on the nearest chair, knowing that she would snap out of this trance and nag him about throwing his things around the room. He couldn't look at her like that, she seemed very distant and vulnerable...her eyes were not blinking and her whole face expressed one thing–pain.

He glanced to Hermione once more and sat near her, putting the parchment from McGonagall on the pages of her book.

At the same moment the parchment fell into her lap, she moved closer to him and he found her fingers curling around his neck, pushing it forward with un-human strength until he was entirely pressed in to the back of the sofa.

He choked for air as she moved closer to him, pulling her right leg over his and sitting onto his lap, pressing against him even further.

Leaning closer to him, body to body, her face just inches from his...her eyes turning a shade darker and filling with animal glint inside as she began to study his face closer.

He caught her hand with one of his and tried to lessen the pressure she was pressing to his throat. He was sure that she would leave his neck bruised.

"Gryff...pl..please.." he whispered, breathing his words out from the pain.

This seemed to affect her as she let go of his neck, her fingers going up until they reached his lips. Breathing hard Blaise looked at her, feeling the gentleness of her touch which couldn't be compared to her actions before. She refused to meet his eyes and turned around whispering "I'm so sorry..."

Blaise still seemed to be in shock as she stood up off him and walked inside of her room.

Hermione leaned with her back to the door and slowly fell down on the floor.

She couldn't take it anymore. The pressure of the situation was killing her inside. Her animal instincts were taking her over and she was afraid of hurting someone in time. She needed someone to tell about the situation, but had no strength to do so.

The guilt for being who she was consumed her from head to toe and broke her down, making her cry for the first time in life...

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A/N: so ? hate it? like it?anyone...? 


	6. Maneater

**Disclaimer:Not mine, nor ever will be...**

Pushing herself up from her four poster bed, Hermione slowly stood up and stretched, going to the door of the Head Girl's suite. It was a few hours after the incident with Zabini; she still felt extremely guilty about it and wanted to apologize to him. She opened the door to the common room and walked in. Zabini was not there and when she turned to her right, she saw that the door to him room was open and empty.

Her stomach made a small growl, alerting her that she hadn't eat yet today. Hermione glanced at her watch and saw that it was time for dinner. She didn't bothering to put on her school robes, she decided to walk like she was: comfortable, dressed in the white school shirt with her Gryffindor tie, black skirt which ended few inches over her knees, and her black, ankle length non-heel boots.

While walking towards the door she saw the piece of parchment Zabini had tried to give her earlier. Briefly scanning it she thought of one more thing she needed to explain to Harry and Ron, besides her family history, that is.

Both of them were quite eager to learn to be an animagi and were exited about the possibility to became ones. Naturally they believed that she was going to do this with them. Well, they had been wrong.

The subject was called '_Human_ Transfiguration"...and the fact was, she was not exactly a human. On the outside she was, no doubt in that. But on the inside...

She belonged to the 'Manticore' clan, their special breeding program which was created by Conclave thousands of years ago, which prevented her from being human on the inside.

Sometimes she thought that Ferret was right about some things...her blood for example; it was dirty in one way. Her blood was a mixed breed between all known animals. Perfect eyesight, hearing, smell, living without actual sleeping for up to few weeks (which she selfishly used when studying for her OWLs). These were only minimal qualities which she possessed but hide from others. She tried hard to control all of this but sudden mood swings were quite common to her.

Harry had always wondered how could she memorize whole book just from reading them once.The answer was-her blood.

But creation of such blood didn't ended without knowing sacrifices.

False miscarriages (which were pushed by the 'loving husbands'), two in a row broke those woman's hearts who were carrying the child. It was quite commonly thought that those two deaths would give the strong spirit to a third and the only which was allowed to be born from one woman.

This fact actually explained why her father had three wives.There was no love between man and woman, only creation of the child to continue the ancient clan was in order.

The prophecy said that she didn't have to terminate her unborn children for a first few times. She silently thanked all gods for at least that; she knew she couldn't handle that.

The second reason was a little bit more complicated: she _could_ turn into an animal and she already knew which one she was but it would be too dangerous for a people around her if she were to transform. Even MaGonagall in her cat form would be in danger of death near Hermione. She had only one form to turn into. A Manticore...

The Manticore was a legendary, deadly creature, a kind of chimera with the head of a man — often with horns; gray eyes; three rows of iron, shark-like teeth; a loud, trumpet/pipe-like roar; the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion.

If you take a translation: a man eater.

She did not want someone to get harmed and get herself sent to Azkaban for transforming.

Putting the parchment back on the table, she sighed deeply, walked out of the dorm, and headed to the Great Hall. It was time to start telling the truth to her friends…

Theodore Nott was sitting at the Slytherin table, quietly eating his roast beef and observing his friend. Blaise had came over to him and Millicent few moments ago and sat down. Blaise Zabini was acting as usual, not talking much (Millie did all the work in this department) and strangely touching his neck every few minutes.

"Do you," Blaise suddenly spoke, "have that salve for bruises?"

Theo felt surprised by Blaise's question. "Yeah, I think there's a bit left. But I need to get another one bottle; last Quiditch practice was terrible."

"Why do you need it?" Millie cut into the conversation with a knowing smile on her face, which was starting to irritate Blaise.

"I just need it."

"Surely not to hide those hickies you have on your neck," she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"You've got hickies?" Theo leaned a bit closer to him, examining his neck. He finally saw what Bullstrode was talking about. There was couple of small bruises covering his neck although he could only see part of them.

"It's not what you both are thinking right now."

"Really?" Millie raised her eyebrow at this. Her mind started to wonder who girl to give Blaise love bites was. Surely he would tell her and Theo about her. "About damn time, I tell you."

"These aren't hickies or anything of the sort," he snapped angrily.

"Then what are they?"

Blaise slowly pushed down the collar of his shirt, revealing, not love bites, but clearly visible fingerprints.

Millicent gasped in shock and Blaise quickly covered them again.

"Who did this?" asked Theo in a hiss. He was thankful now that they were sitting at the end of the table. Blaise did not reply and was looking towards Gryffindor House table. Theo followed Blaise's gaze.

Hermione Granger was the last one to come into the Hall and was now was heading over to Potter and Weasley. She was looking tense as she said something to Potter who only nodded in reply. Turning around, her gaze fell on the Slytherin table and stopped at Blaise for a second before she proceeded to the Head Table.

"Salazar's socks! Don't tell me.."He started again "Granger? She does'nt seem like the violent type to me."

"She did break Malfoys nose back in third year," added Millicent .After looking at boy's reaction to her statement she continued, "Wait…you didn't know?"

"Forget about it. I should get going."With that Blaise stood up and went to the Head Table as well.

They sat together in silence, eating and drinking. However, the tension between them was so thick that it could have been cut with a dull knife. The main source of this was Hermione. She was still thinking how to say 'I am sorry' in a proper way when Zabini broke the silence, pouring the pumpkin juice in his glass.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked, not looking at her.

"Hmm..." She looked at him quizzically. His facial expression unreadable. "You're angry."

Her simple statement made him roll his eyes and turn his eyes at her "Why shouldn't I be, Gryff?" His bright eyes seemed to bore holes in hers. Hermione desperately wanted to break their contact, but had to stay until the end. "Not everyday girls are throwing themselves at me, wanting to choke and kill….What have I done to you?"

"It's not you…it's me."

"And?"

"I can't tell you about it."

"When you can, you know there to find me." He put his napkin aside and stood up walking and walked out of the Great Hall. He had completely lost his appetite

When she finally satisfied her hunger, she stood up and walked to Harry and Ron. It was time to speak with the boys

A/N: in the next chapter will be the full story of Manticore clan you now hermione, she likes to talk...so stay tuned:-)

A/N: Thank you to **all of my reviewers** and **Ally09** naturally. Without her this story would not be possible :-)

**Review** People, I'd really like to hear your opinion on this!


	7. Noah's Ark

**Warning**: If anyone from those who are reading this story is strongly religiose and might be affended of the (small) changes I've made to The Book of Genesis...please skip this part.( or chapter)...no flames for this please, I've warned you...

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If there is no exit, then you should look for an enterance.

This simple life philosophy seemed the best of all options Hermione considered from the 'How to tell the truth to Ron and Harry' list. However, not everything was so plain and simple. She was sitting in the middle of her common room with Harry and Ron by her side. The boys kept bombarding her with 'Where the hell were you all day?'

"So, where have you been?" asked Harry, sitting himself on a black leather chair across from her. Ron was simply sitting on the persian carpet which covered the middle of the wooden floor.

Starting from the beginning seemed to be the logical choice for her, only it turned out to be too uncomfortable to talk about. Hermione alredy regretted her first words of answer and Ron didn't made the situation better.

She took her breath in, "You see...I...I'm a girl."

This definetly sounded lame, even to her. Harry looked at her quizically, he was really starting to worry about his friend's sanity.

Ron on the other hand simply rolled his eyes at this and snorted. "Duh! You know," he pointed his right hand at her, drawing circles somewhere at her upper body part; her breasts. "It's kinda hard to miss those."

"Thank you, Ronald," she snapped at him, "but you are not helping here."

"I just don't see how you're being a girl is connected with your abcense today."

She narrowed her eyes at this, "If you continue stopping me then I won't be able to tell 'why'."

Harry pulled both of his hands up, "Will you two stop it?" his irritated voice broke the tension in the room. " At this point, we won't get anywhere. Hermione," he commanded, "start over."

"Thank you, Harry," she replied, giving her harshest glare to Ron. "As I've already said before ...I am a girl. I don't know how familiar you both are with muggle religion, so I'll explain a little."

"Most muggles believe in one God, not like wizards who can be considered as pagans. The ancient legends of how the Earth was created and the life of God and his son are described in different books. Each religion in the world has its own holy book: Hebrew Bible, Christian Old Testament's book of Genesis, and the Quran.

"They all contain one specific legend: Noah's Ark.

Ron was being unusually quietly and was listening to every word she said; probably for the first time in seven years. This was something new for him and she hoped that he would not only listen, but also understand all her words.

"The story of Noah's Ark, according to the Book of Genesis, begins with God observing man's evil behavior and deciding to flood the earth and destroy all life. However, God found one good man, Noah. A righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and decided that he would carry forth the lineage of man.

"God told Noah to make an ark, and to bring with him his wife, and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. Additionally, he was told to bring examples of all animals and birds, male and female. In order to provide sustenance, he was told to bring and store food.  
"When Noah completed the Ark, he and his family and the animals entered, and the same day all the fountains of the great deep broken up, the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

"The flood covered even the highest mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet, and all creatures on Earth died; only Noah and those with him on the Ark were left alive.  
"Finally, after about 220 days, the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and the waters receded for another forty days until the mountaintops emerged.

"Then Noah sent out a raven which went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth.

"Next, Noah sent a dove out, but it returned having found nowhere to land. After a further seven days, Noah again sent out the dove, and it returned with an olive leaf in its beak, and he knew that the waters had subsided.

"Noah waited seven days more and sent out the dove once more, and this time it did not return. Then he and his family and all the animals left the Ark, and Noah made a sacrifice to God. God resolved that he would never again curse the ground because of man, and never again would he destroy all life on it in this manner.

"In order to remember this promise, God put a rainbow in the clouds, saying, "Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Harry shifted in his place, his eyes never leaving Hermione. Ron was staring into a small spot on the carpet, thinking about everything he had just heard.

Hermione waved her wand and three bottles of butterbeer appeared on the coffee table. She picked up one of them and took a small sip, motioning to the boys to do the same. Somehow Harry doubted that this was the end of the story and waited for her to continue. Hermione nervously twirled the bottle in her hands and indeed continued.

"But the books are missing one important part this story. During those forty days one of Noah's daughter in laws gave birth to a baby boy named Luca. A few days after being born some strange things started to happen with him.

"He became weaker and weaker, no matter what was done to save his life. When the boy was on

his death bed, God once again came to Noah and told him the cure. Noah mixed all of animals blood and gave the drink to his grandson.

"The boy was perfectly healthy again after just seven days and seven nights.  
"Later, when he grew up, a strange animal was discovered inside the nearest wood. It had the body of lion, head of the human, tail from the scorpion with venoumos spines on it.

"Martyaxwar they called it. But you probably know this creature under another name: Manticore, or a simply - man eater.

"It killed those around it and ate them alive. The only human it was afraid of was young man – Luca. He was the one to tame it and eventually, the creature lived with his family like a common dog. Later, Luca was known as head of Manticore clan…

"Through the centuries, the clan continued to grow. By the strange concidence, only boys have been born inside all of families which formed this clan. One interesting thing led to the birth of children. First two were to be aborted. Muggles have a saying, 'God loves Trinity'… The third one would be stronger, healthier, smarter…

"A thousand year ago a young wizard named Merlin came across the private property of the Clan. He was sentenced to death, but escaped it only after telling the prophecy which could change the future of clan.

_'A Girl will be born as a third of the mages…_

_  
And her blood will grow strong in the child she will create_

_Not just one, but the heirs to the throne of the world._

_  
This Queen will take over the warriors, no matter what will be told._

_Or the clan shall vanish from the face of the Earth.'_

"Reaching the eighteen years border, the girl should choose the partner, to continue the line of _purebred_ humans."

Hermione finally looked up to see reaction of the boys. Ron was still sitting and not even blinking…his mouth opening slightly only to mutter, "A…and you're …."

"A girl," finished Harry for him.

"Bloody hell." Ron sighed deeply putting, his head in his hands "Too much information."

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner…"she was on the edge of crying. She hadn't been so emotional for years.

Harry slowly stood up and ran his hands through his messy hair. "How? W…why? Why haven't you told us earlier? Don't you trust us? Why Hermione?" He crossed the space between them and sat near her on the couch.

"I don't know…" she whispered silently, clearing her cheeks from the small tears that had formed under her eyes. "I had enough of Malfoy calling me MudBlood. If he found out that I'm technically not even a human…The blood of those animals is still running through my veins."

Harry said nothing. Then he did something Hermione didn't expect. His hand was shaking when he reached her. His left hand pulling her head up to look at him, his right hand held out in front of hers.

"Harry James Potter." he said nervously.

She looked at him in disbelieve; a small smile curling up her lips. Hermione took his hand in hers, "Hermione Jane Granger."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione." Harry replied, grinning as he embraced her in tight hug.

Blaise was patrolling the Dungeons when he came across Pansy near the entrance of the Slytherin Dormitories.

"Hi Blaise," she smiled at him with the smile she though was 'seductive'. "Why didn't you tell me about the Ball?"

"What ball are you talking about?"

She batted her eyelashes at him. "Didn't you hear what Dumbledore said tonight?"

"Obviously not."

"Old fool said that he felt like having a ball in two weeks. I must admit, I'm not against the idea." she stepped closer to him. He didn't like it. Taking one more step closer and invading his personal space, she ran her hand across his torso. Blaise showed no reaction. "Will you take me…to the ball?"

He took her hand in his, shoving it off his body as he took a step back. Pansy looked offended but he didn't cared a bit. "Wouldn't even dream about taking you from the Draco, Parkinson. Have a nice evening." With that he turned around and left for his dorm, leaving a shocked Pansy behind.

"How dare he?" a high pitched voice echoed in the corridor. "You're going to pay for this, Zabini. I promise."

"No Ron! The fact that I see the damn thing doesn't mean that I can catch it," sounded the voice of an irritated Granger, Blaise heard as he came close to the brick wall outside the common room. "Oh come on, Herms!"

"You know she's afraid of flying, Ron," cut in the voice of Potter which stopped Weasley's whining.

"But it's Quiditch! If you flew with team we would be unbeatable!"

"Gryffindor's team is unbeatable!

Once Blaise walked inside they seemed to stop their talking. The three of them seemed cozy and relaxed; a couple of butterbeer bottles stood empty on the table. The Golden Trio was sitting around the table, playing poker.

"What is he doing here?" asked a surprised Ron.

"Excuse me, Weasley," smirked Blaise, "Last time I checked, I was actually living here."

"Hey!" grinned a bit of a drunk Wonder Boy, "He can talk!"

Granger, who was obviously the soberest person out of the three, kicked him with her foot under the table. "Of coarse he can, Harry. He wouldn't be a Head Boy otherwise."

"What did he call me?" asked a red faced Ron, pointing his finger towards him, obviously referring at the first words Blaise said.

But Blaise continued to ignore the red head and started to walk towards his room, stepping inside and closing the door. He distinctly heard Hermione's voice shushing Weasley.  
"He said 'excuse me', Ron," she looked at her wristwatch. The time was nearing curfew. She waved with her hands. "Up! Up you go…it's late, boys."

They stood up lazily and Hermione followed them to the door. Ron stepped through the hole first, Harry lingering a moment longer. He put his arms on Hermione's shoulder.  
"Hermione…you know…I you don't find anybody…when…" he gently touched her forehead with his lips. "I'll be happy to oblige…" with this he turned around, not waiting for her answer, and walked away from her.

As door passage shut down after him, Hermione continued to stay at the same place in shock.  
Did Harry just said that he'd…I can't believe it…

The thought of doing _IT_ with Harry made her shudder. I would be the same for her as with Rhett of Lionel. Harry was like a brother to her. He and Ron both were…_Dear Merlin_…What a mess she was in.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running water in the shower. It was Zabini's time to take a bath. She would talk to him after he'd come out. Yes, she definitely would.

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A/N: so, next stop Blaise and Hermione after his bath...hate it?like it? Tell me what do you think?  
next update by the end of this week:-) 


	8. Slytherin thinking

_A/N: Okay...here's the next chapter you've been waiting for. thanx to everyone who reviewed so far, I really appreciate it:-) Since we've done with Hermione's background, it's time to move on more ,** interesting** things, so to say...read and hopefully Enjoy!_

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Glancing at her surroundings, Hermione thought that maybe it was a bad idea to come here. She was sitting on the chair at Blaise's desk in his room, waiting for him to come back from the bathroom.

His room didn't looked much different from her own. Her room was made in three colors: black, red, and gold. The last two representing her house colors, just as green and Silver represented Slytherin, Zabini's house. His room was made in those colors, plus black, just like her own: A large, four poster bed with heavy curtains, a desk, a few chairs, a bookshelves, a closet, and a mirror. Everything was identical to the furniture in her room, except for the colors, of coarse.

Maybe she would just wait until tomorrow? She pushed the sudden thought away quickly. She had to talk with him today; it would be much easier to deal with everything today.

What would she tell him? She didn't know exactly, to be honest. All of her thoughts seemed to be running circles in her mind, not wanting to stop from their erratic movement to let her decide what to do.

She could not lie to the face of another person, but she _could_ delicately avoid the truth. She had mastered that over the years.

He'd just caught her in a very emotional moment. Usually she deal with those emotions by punching a pillow or something similar. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She laughed a little, remembering Harry's comment about Zabini's ability to speak. As shocking as it may be, she really hadn't heard him speak much in all of her years at school and to honest, she hadn't even noticed him until the end of fifth year. Maybe the first time she noticed him was when they were both partnered together in Arithmancy class?

The longest phrase she had possibly ever heard from him was couple of days ago when she made him rearrange his thing in the bathroom.

He did everything exactly like she told him to and never even said a word in reply. If not for her excellent hearing she would have missed his comments when she left the bathroom that evening. He had whispered something to himself in Italian. His voice was low and smooth, filled with irritation and words of complaint. She didn't need to know Italian to understand what he was saying, but judging by his tone...he didn't speak in literaly language. She was sure of it.

She loved order in everything, he obviously preferred things to be disorganized. They just didn't 'click' in this department.

She could see it perfectly now, a few books - _who in the world would do that!-argh!-she screamed inside - _were lying open on the floor; school robes were hanging in the open closet; Slytherin tie was lying across his desk. Hermione tried to fight the urge to stand up and clean his room.

No. She wouldn't be acting like a House Elf and cleaning up after him. Not in this world!

She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple with her fingers, trying to relax.

After a few moments the water was turned off and Hermione heard footsteps near the bathroom door. Her hand were nervously clutching the hem of her skirt as the door knob turned. She looked up at the sound of the opening door.

The lights from the bathroom were brighter than in the lights of the room and this contrast made his skin look a shade darker than it truly was. And the fact that he was only dressed in a white towel that hung loosely around his waist was not helping her concentration.

Even if Zabini was surprised to see her here, he didn't showed it at all.

His hair were dripping wet and hung loosely over his eyes.With one swift movement he pushed them aside and closed the door behind him. His body was rather well defined and Hermione couldn't help but look him over. He was not overly muscular, but lean and toned. He had strong arms and legs, broad shoulders and a narrow waist; a real swimmer's body. Her eyes traveled over his bare chest, down to his abdomen, and lingered at the perfect V-shaped form which was made by his muscles and hip bones. There was a trail of dark curls going down from his navel straight to his...

"Like what you see, Gryff?" his voice brought her back to reality.

She blushed and turned around. Not wanting to answer his question, she tried to say as firmly as she could manage, "I just wanted to apologies for...what happened before...er...earlier...today." She could not see him, but that could not prevent her from practically feeling the smirk he had plastered on his lips. _What was with those damn Slytherins and their smirking anyway ?_

And Blaise indeed was smirking; he just couldn't help it, it was a natural reaction. It was strange to see Granger blushing so madly at the mere sight of the male body. Why was one side of her so much different from the other? He was mused. One moment she was a fierce - he dared to say - woman, who knew no mercy for her enemy a few moments before taking his life. In a second she could turn into an innocent lamb, blushing and trembling like a virgin on her wedding night

"Apology accepted," was the only answer he could think of. She seemed to tell the truth. She indeed was sorry.If there was one thing he was good at was reading other people. Hermione Granger was particularly difficult, something else radiated from her besides guilt; she was nervous and emotionally unstable.

She turned back and looked up once again only to see him standing a few meters away from her, leaning on one of the posts of his bed.

Somehow she thought there would be more talking. His questions, her answers...She underestimated Slytherin. He obviously was a 'less talk, more action' type of guy.

Well, if he didn't wanted to talk to her any further, she could do nothing about it. She stood up and prepared to leave his room when suddenly she tripped over one of the books on the floor.

However, after she didn't 'kiss' the floor she found herself being pulled up by a pair of strong arms around her waist. She was determined to stay up on her own and pushed him away from her..This was a big mistake.

While he held her closer to him, his towel still was not wrapped tightly enough around his waist, in her opinion. When Hermione tried to push herself away from him, it managed to fall down on to the floor between them. She found herself leaning onto his shoulder and inhaling his scent. His smell reminded her of a little bi spiced green-tea...fresh scent was mixing with musk and mandarin. Her left hand was touching his chest and practically burned with heat which radiated from his body. Her right hand, however...

_Oh,Shit! Holy mother of..._

Her right hand was touching some warmer part of his body. The velvet feel of his skin and small curls under her hand as something pulsed under it...She looked up in shock, shifting a little in her pose, trying to tell herself that it defiantly was NOT the thing she though it was.

Zabini suddenly hissed at her movement. His eyes were half close.

"I'm not a broomstick, Granger. Try not to grip me so hard." His voice was husky, filled with something she could not recognize.

She squicked and practically jumped away from him, covering her eyes with her right hand.

"Sorry...I...sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Suddenly realizing what she had just held with her hand, she quickly switched them.

"You'd better go," she heard from behind.

She nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, go, now."

Practically running away from his room, she quickly went inside of her's, shutting the door loudly.

_Oh ,God_...She was so embarrassed. Looking in the mirror, she saw that her face was the color of Ron's hair.

She walked to her desk and took a sip from her vial of Sleeping Draught. Lying back on her bed, she wanted nothing more than for sleep to take over and to forget what she had just done.

After Granger ran out of his room, Blaise didn't even bother to take the towel from the floor. Laying down on his bed covers, he allowed himself to think over what had just occured in his room.

He was not a vigrin by any means. He'd had sex a few times before, using the whores from the Knockturn alley after his sixteenth birthday.

To say he didn't liked it was not the right thing to say. He did, only it somehow was emotionless on his part. All his actions were turned only to satisfying his own needs. He touched, licked, fucked only to feel his own release. Women replied greatly upon his actions. Screaming, moaning...but they never made him feel like Granger had.

He wanted to hold her. Her touch made his body and soul ache with need for her. Her warmth, her breath on his skin...he wanted to kiss her for Merlin's sake! He'd never kissed a girl in all his eighteen years of living. Never. Even with those women he'd been with...They were too tainted, too dirty...and kissing was much more intimate to him, more than everything else.

Not wanting to erase the touch of her hand from the memory of his skin, he dared not to pleasure himself now...He would wait and just lie back...thinking, remembering...

Hermione Granger made him fell different things, pushing him out of the cell he'd locked himself in. He sighed and turned himself to a different side, taking one pillow and holding it closer to him.

A small smirk grazed his lips as he slowly drift off to sleep. He wanted her now. Not only her body, but her soul and mind as well. Blaise Zabini wasn't put in Slytherin for nothing. He would make her his...one way, or another.

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A/N: Next chapter will be up somewhere by the end of this week 


	9. Birds'n'Bees

Disclaimer: Not mine, nor ever will be...but you'll probably already know that...

A/N: Okay...this is the next chapter...nothing much in it, because I needed to stuck something in before the COMC lesson, because all interesting will start there...

The weather was quite nice for September in Scotland. Not too cold and not too hot, although there was no sun that particular morning, warn breezes of wind made for a pleasant day outside.

"What would you think, Ron," Hermione started first, "if I was to go dancing 'Full Monty' on our House table? Would guys pay attention to me then?"

This made Harry choke strongly on his glass pumpkin juice he was drinking at the moment.

Ron looked shocked, his sausage fell back onto his plate. Hermione laughed and nodded to him, "Clap him, Ron."

Harry continued choking while Ronn hit his hands together uncertainly instead of hitting Harry on the back.

"On the back, Ronald!"

When Ron finally clapped him on the back ,Harry only managed to mouth 'thank you.' "You're got to be kidding, Hermione?" he added in disbelive after a few moments.

"What? asked Ron. "You're serious?"

"Why not? she replied, looking towards the Head Table.

Almost one week after the 'incident' (how Hermione preferred to call it personally) with Zabini, she found herself having her breakfast at the Gryffindor Table, instead of at the Head Table.

The first time it has happened, Harry asked if Zabini's had done something to her. Ron, as usual, threated to break his legs if he touched her. Of course she said no to all of their accusiations. She couldn't admit that it was she who had done all of the touching and not Slytherin.

She tried to avoid him as much as possible, but obviously it was not enough; she caught him staring more than once. In classes...in the library...at meals. The expression of his face was unreadable. He seemed to study her, his eyes boring into her intently - and yet he never uttered a word to her.

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat at the end of the table, a little ways away from their fellow classmates. She preferred to talk about her so called 'situation' as far away as possible from other's ears.

If there was a 'Gossip Cup', then Gryffindor House would defiantly win it every year in the row. Even the 'badgers' could not compete with them.

Of course, she had briefly thought about the possibility of telling 'this' to a female from her House...Still, growing up with nothing but boys around didn't allowed her to feel complitely free with girls. Boys were everythere. First home: Lionel, Rhett, her countless cousins...later in Hogwarts: Harry and Ron...

She missed her mother at the times like this. She loved and spoiled her dearly, but for most of the year (when Hermione was at school) Emmanuele Granger spent her time traveling around the world and spendidng her father's money. Plus, she was not informed about whole Clan thing...this would be too dangerous. Only men knew the 'necessary' information.

She would prefer to talk with an 'experienced' female. Ginny Weasley would be her first choice but Hermione didn't like that particular idea. She had more contact with the Twins than with Ginny. Telling her meant that there was a chance that in fifteen minutes the whole castle would know about her predicament.. Ginny was Ron's little sister, but she couldn't rely on her like could on her flamed-haired friend.

Part of Hermione told her that Ginny was spoiled as much as she herself was. They were both the only girls in their families, but her family didn't get and allow everything she requested, on the other hand Hrmione's family encouraged her to work harder if she wanted something and to achieve everything herself.

Still, she needed some opinion from the other side. She had read some books on sex and male ( as well as female) anatomy and even heard the talk about the 'birds and bees' from Rhett- who could put Professor Binns to shame with his lectures; she didn't know how she managed not to fall asleep. Her brother was so clinical in his speech and so boring...

_Bulbourethral glands arelocated posterior and lateral to the membranous portion of the urethra at the base of the penis, betweenthe two layers of the fascia of the urogenital diaphragm, in the deep perineal pouch._

_They are enclosed by the transverse fibers of the sphincter urethrae membranaceae muscle…. _

Why the hell must she know which gland produced secretions known as pre-ejaculate. This, she didn't know.

She's done some research and made up one idea, but to make it work she still needed help from both Harry and Ron.

"So," she started cautionsly. "I've made a list of questions for you, which you will have to ask to all the males I've included at the bottom part of the parchment. All of them must be at least seventeen, no need to get minors involved."

"How often do you watch romance movies? Do you rinse out the sink after you brush your teeth?... Hermione, what kind of questions are those?" Ron asked, putting his list on the table.

"Well," she waved with her hand freely, explaining, "I need to know the facts, honestly. Is it so hard to ask some blokes? You could always do this after Quiditch practice, for example…"

"Right," Harry sighed. "Imagine…I'm washing in the shower and 'oh so by the way' asking Seamus 'Do you sleep diagonally?" or "How many times in a week do you prefer to engage in sexual activities?' Can you imagine his reaction? Because I don't want to."

"Please Harry…," she was making her puppy dog eyes on him. "I'm not asking much…."

He paused for a moment, looking deep into her eyes. Hoping that she would change her mind and agree to take him instead was still pretty much evident to her. "Okay…I'll do it."

"Thank you!" she smiled back to him and took his hands in hers and squished them together.

"That means," said Ron after finishing his sausage, "that you'll have to get pregnant soon then?"

"Dunno, to be honestly. It's not like I can control it. Muggle contraceptives won't work on me…maybe potions will, but I'm not sure. It's different every time. Rhett's wife, Andrea, became pregnant for a first time only in the fifth year of their marriage."

Harry looked deep in his thoughts for a moment and then asked, "How many kids do you want?"

"One, maybe two, who knows. I," she picked up her toast from her plate and took a bite of it. "I have a large family, you know, to think of it, if not for the abortions I'd have eight siblings.."

"Yeah, give the Weasley's a run for their money."

"But why exactly eighteen? I don't get it?"

"Neither do I, Ron. I guess all previous experiences were limited by boys. And there are rules…but they were designed for boys…and I just have to comply."

Harry frowned at this, "Can't Dumbledore stop them? This is your life, not theirs."

Hermione shifted in her place and put one leg across the other. "He's against the idea that I should be forced to do something like this with someone I do not want, but I don't think he's against the idea of the kids. They will be like a new species of wizards, Harry. Not only magical but also stronger and smarter with big potential. You know that everyone is worried about the 'squib' situation.

"Also, .I simply can't let them down. There's not many of us left, Harry. There's a few hundred in England, a few in Europe." She looked down at her magical watch, "Oh crap….we're going to be late to Care of magical Creatures!" she said, standing up.

Both boys followed her shortly and the three of them walked out of the Great Hall and headed to the keeper's hut


End file.
